My role
Company: DSGN Logic/ U.S. Copyrighted Civic Design Platform
Role: Founder & Design Research Lead
Timeline: Spring 2021-present
Challenge
Bespeak is a civic engagement platform that applies design thinking to urban planning, giving communities a real voice in how their neighborhoods evolve.
Born from years of my field research in Atlanta’s BeltLine redevelopment, Bespeak has grown into a copyrighted process and product that bridges planners, policymakers, and residents through transparent, human-centered design. It uses both digital and physical tools to help cities design with people, not for them.
Goal
My goal was to transform participation in city planning from a performative checkbox into a meaningful, data-driven dialogue.
I wanted to create an ecosystem where trust, empathy, and decision-making coexist—where residents, planners, and investors share information in real time and make inclusive choices that strengthen community identity.
Problem
Urban planning often reinforces inequality because the process privileges those already at the table.
In Atlanta, BeltLine communities like Westview and Pittsburgh experienced rising costs, cultural erasure, and limited transparency. More than 80 percent of surveyed residents didn’t understand the city planning process, and planners admitted that engagement was “too late to influence outcomes.” The gap between intent and impact revealed a critical design opportunity: to create systems that bring every voice into the process early and often.
Process
To uncover those insights, I blended data with empathy.
Key Research Insights
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Residents wanted transparency and updates they could access on their time.
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City planners wanted organized feedback that could guide policy and investment decisions.
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Both lacked shared spaces—digital or physical—to connect meaningfully.
From these findings, I created Bespeak, a hybrid engagement system with three interconnected parts:
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Interactive Third-Space Boards
Digital displays placed in community hubs—cafés, churches, and grocery stores—where residents can view plans, vote, and leave feedback in real time.
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Mobile Engagement App
A companion experience that lets users comment, access planning data, and receive notifications about development changes.
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Design Sprint Framework
A guided co-creation process that teaches communities and planners to collaborate using empathy mapping, prototyping, and collective decision-making.
Together, these tools turn civic planning into a participatory ecosystem—one that makes engagement visible, accessible, and continuous.
Designing for culture and connection
Solution and impact
Pilot workshops in local communities proved the concept’s value. Community leaders reported increased trust, broader participation, and stronger collaboration with city planners.
Bespeak is now expanding through partnerships with local urban design firms and municipal innovation labs, with a U.S. copyright protecting its process and framework. This project reaffirmed my belief that design can repair broken systems by making complexity human.
Bespeak transforms civic engagement from a closed process into a co-authored experience—one where design gives people agency over the places they call hom